Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Continues Drafting Document

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 10th round of talks in the United States between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continued with a meeting May 2-5 at St. Paul's College, Washington, D.C. Scholars from both Christian traditions are drafting a document on "The Church as Koinonia of Salvation: Its Structures and Ministries."
"Koinonia" is an anglicized Greek word that appears several times in the Christian Bible and is translated as "communion," "fellowship" or "a close mutual relationship." The dialogue is taking up issues of koinonia as they relate to "ordained ministry and structures of church unity."
Talks have centered around the roles of priests, pastors and bishops, their relationships to the nature and mission of the Church, the significance of parishes and diocese/synods and the history of ordination. A purpose of the document is to lay the groundwork for theological agreements and proposals to the churches for steps that may increase the expression of koinonia between Lutherans and Catholics.
The text will contain two parts -- one will be a view of the Church as communion, differences and similarities in understandings of local church, and another will be a treatment of what Lutherans and Catholics can say together about congregations/parishes, dioceses/synods and the universal Church. Within each of these sections there will be a common statement and the different Catholic and Lutheran emphases.
A second half of the document will develop biblical and historical explanations of the bases for the proposals laid out in the first part of the common statement. The theological theme of koinonia will be developed in three dimensions: the Church participates in salvation, the Church shares salvation, and the Church as a community shaped by salvation.
The work at this particular meeting "was devoted to careful review of the structure of our argument and the thoroughness of the documentation gathered to support the eventual recommendations of the final report," said the dialogue's Catholic co-chair, the Most Rev. Richard J. Sklba, auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
The Rev. Charles H. Maahs, former bishop of the ELCA Central States Synod, Overland Park, Kan., is the Lutheran co-chair. He called the meeting "another very positive step forward for our dialogue, with the structure and outline of our document beginning to take shape."
"The common understanding of the gospel by our two churches lays a solid foundation for our dialogue on koinonia. By 'gospel' we mean the essence of the good news we proclaim as Christians from the Word of God as we know it in our Scriptures," said Maahs.
"The Church as a community shaped by salvation in Christ shares this gospel, the good news for which the world is searching. It is this gospel 'lens' through which we seek to understand and recognize the structures and ministries of our churches," Maahs said.
"The enduring highlight of the meeting was the wealth of theological data from the Middle Ages, and the openness of the theological community to a variety of forms for ministry in the Church, especially the close interconnection between the roles of priest/pastor and bishop," said Sklba.
"Our ability to study the data with mutual respect and honesty was greatly assisted by the deepening friendship which has developed among the entire group of scholars and staff personnel," Sklba added.
"Our communion with one another sets an example of the way in which respectful listening can contribute to understanding of the text and the search for closer communion by our churches," Maahs said.
"It is always refreshing and encouraging to be together for common prayer, study, and work on the agreed text. This work is highlighted for us when we take the time to worship face-to-face with parishes and congregations of our churches," said Maahs.
Dialogue members attended Saturday mass at St. Matthew's Catholic Cathedral, Washington, D.C., where Sklba preached and Maahs brought greetings. On Sunday, they worshiped with the congregation at Nativity Lutheran Church, Alexandria, Va., where Maahs preached and Sklba brought greetings.
The ELCA has 5.13 million members in 10,816 congregations across the United States and Caribbean. Those congregations are organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop.
The Roman Catholic Church has more than 62 million members in the United States. Its 187 dioceses or archdioceses oversee almost 20,000 parishes.
The USCCB and the U.S.A. National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation initiated the first round of the "bilateral" dialogue in 1965. It has produced a number of common statements on such topics as Scriptures, saints and justification by faith. The 10th round of talks began in September 1998. -- -- -- Bro. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, associate director, USCCB Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, provided information for this story.

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